Exterior Design Mistakes Even Home Builders Make

Having worked in the new home industry for over a decade, I completely understand the appeal of buying a new build. Not only can building new grant the opportunity to totally customize your space (as opposed to retrofitting an existing house), it also allows you to select all of your materials and finishes at the same time which helps ensure a consistent look throughout the home. Theoretically, a new build is easier to maintain as it would have been constructed as per modern building practices and reviewed against the current building codes. Assuming it was also constructed by a reputable builder, a new build shouldn’t come with all the unexpected surprises that tend to come along with owning an older home.

On the flip side, just like any other industry, there are going to be some builders that are be better then others. And while most builders are constantly looking for ways to improve, there is so much that goes into home building that it’s easy for things to be overlooked, especially when it comes to the exterior.

So today I wanted to share some of common mistakes that I often see builders make which result in an exterior that is undesirable, dated, and (apologies for my lack of better words here) looks cheap and thoughtlessly slapped together.

The Use Cheap Materials That Won’t Hold Up to the Elements

The profits margins on a new build are much lower then you’d think, so it’s not surprising that builders gravitate towards more affordable exterior materials like aluminum and vinyl. The problem with that is just like most everything else, there is a reason you pay more for higher quality.

The builder who constructed the home above appears to have used a black aluminum panel to frame around some of the windows. While this would have been cheaper then using a fiber cement board, aluminum does not hold up well to direct sunlight and often ends up rippling or bubbling along the seams over time. It is unfortunate because it ultimately cheapens the overall look and feel of this otherwise stunning home.

Vinyl siding is another exterior material that most builders in my area use because it’s so affordable. The downside though, is that it’s pretty thin and does not hold up to extreme weather as well as a more expensive cladding material like James Hardie siding. In fact, this article does a great job comparing the two materials after an intense southern Alberta hail storm.

Hail damage in Airdrie, AB. James Hardie siding on left vs. vinyl siding on right

They Don’t Understand Architectural Styles

In some ways, designing an exterior elevation together is no different then putting a room together. Here’s what I mean:

The kitchen below feels elegant yet casual but if you were to use these stools instead of the ones pictured, the space would lose it’s appeal because those stools clearly do not fit.

The same can be said when it comes to exteriors. Craftsman homes tend to feature large front porches, pillars with heavy stone bases, shallow gables, and are often clad in a combination of shakes, stone, and siding. Farmhouses on the other hand, look stunning with steep, dramatic gables, metal roofs, and black windows. And while there are examples out there where an architect has blended the two styles together beautifully, I often see builders totally botch it.

Here’s an example. This home features a few Craftsman elements such as brackets, stone based columns, and shallow pitched gables, but they’ve been combined with a vertical siding which is better suited to a Farmhouse. To top it off, the builder has selected colours that don’t align with either style as Craftsman homes tend to feature very light coloured trims and Farmhouses tend to be a bit more monochromatic.

For comparison, below are two homes where the Farmhouse and Craftsman styles have been well showcased.

And here is another example. This traditional, Craftsman inspired home would look so much better if the builder had gone with garage doors that suited that style as opposed to installing the ultra modern garage doors that are shown here.

They Do Not Pay Attention To The Exterior Details

Expanding on my last point, a builder’s lack of attention to detail will almost definitely result in an elevation that is less then desirable.

In this example, there are two oversights that really leave this home looking slapped together. The first is the windows. See how the builder has installed windows with white frames and black grilles? The home would have looked so much better if the builder had either fully committed to the upgraded black windows or just stuck with all white.

The other miss is the corner boards installed along the red paneling. These corner boards would look best if they were black just like trims running over top and below the second floor windows. Instead, the corner board in the upper panel is beige and the one on the panel just below the second floor window is silver. I wasn’t involved in this project but my guess is that this was a mistake on the drawings or by the trade that the builder never bothered to correct.

This house is a another great example of a lack of attention to detail. To be honest, the more I looked at it the more things I found.

I’ll start with the roof. The builder has added a gable with shakes on the left side of the house. It’s a cute detail but the impact is lost due to the flat wall face below. Without a change in wall plane below, the gable ends up looking like a tacked on after thought which leaves the elevation looking a bit cheap.

In addition, the second floor windows are different sizes. Again, if the builder had pulled out the portion of the wall directly below the gable, this wouldn’t be as noticeable but since both windows are on the same wall plane, they look awkward beside each other.

Moving down to the main floor level, I also noticed that the entry door is not centered on the veranda. Reducing the width of the veranda so that the door was centered would not only look better, it would have been an easy adjustment that would have ended up saving the builder money.

Finally, see how the builder has installed a hip roof line pretty much everywhere except in that area? Again, it leaves the veranda roof looking like a bit of an after thought.

Here is that same elevation with the changes mentioned above incorporated.

So whether your building new or looking to renovate your existing home, I hope you find this post helpful in creating a timeless exterior that you will love forever.